


Love's worth the pain

by Immortal_Dreams



Series: The Other 51 [2]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Alex goes looking for Willie, Angst with a Happy Ending, But Alex loves them anyways, Episode: s01e09 Stand Tall, First Kiss, Fluff, Gen, M/M, The boys are idiots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:15:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26665804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Immortal_Dreams/pseuds/Immortal_Dreams
Summary: After the Orpheum, Alex doesn't go back to the garage with Reggie and Luke. He needs to talk to Willie before it's too late.
Relationships: Alex & Julie Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie, Alex/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms)
Series: The Other 51 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1925527
Comments: 18
Kudos: 335





	Love's worth the pain

**Author's Note:**

> Sooo, i have become obsessed with this fandom. Expect more oneshots.

They poof off the stage and reappear in one of the back rooms. From here they can hear the applause. Alex smiles at that, but the smile slips off his lips quickly.

“Nothing’s happening,” he says, looking at his band mates.

Luke’s eyes widen, and he takes a step back. “We’re not crossing over.”

Alex can only shake his head in response. Reggie isn’t doing any better.

“Why?”

“I guess playing the Orpheum wasn’t our unfinished business,” Luke says.

Reggie shakes his head. “No,” he says. “That can’t be right. It’s just taking a little longer.”

Alex wants nothing more than to agree with him, but he knows Luke’s right. They’re not going to cross over. He steps forward, intending to hug Reggie, but another jolt stops him. All three of them gasp, and Alex doesn’t know how, but the pain is even worse this time. He presses his eyes shut, hands curled around his stomach, and forces himself to take deep breaths. When he looks up again, he sees the others aren’t looking any better than he feels.

“We’ve got to get away from here,” Luke says. “Julie can’t find us like this.”

Reggie looks at the ground. “Where to though? We’ve got nowhere to go.”

Luke considers this for a moment. “The garage, I guess. Julie will probably go straight to bed anyways.”

“I don’t think she will,” Alex mumbles, but Reggie and Luke don’t hear him.

He thinks about their time here, and he’s still glad all of it happened. He’s happy they met Julie, and he’s happy he met Willie, even if he led them to Caleb. 

Willie. Alex stops breathing for a second. He can’t go without telling Willie—he can’t let him think he doesn’t care. He needs to tell him how he feels. And as much as he wants to be with his best friends when he goes, Willie’s more important right now.

“Guys,” Alex says.

Luke, already preparing to poof over to the garage, turns to him. “Yeah?”

“I can’t go with you.”

Reggie freezes. “What?”

“There’s something I need to do,” Alex says. “Before we—I can’t go without talking to Willie.”

“Oh.” Luke looks at him, and his eyes radiate understanding.

“I’m sorry. I love you guys, but I need to—”

He doesn’t get to finish because he’s pulled into a hug by both of his friends. After a second of confusion, Alex hugs them back.

“It’s okay,” Luke says, and Reggie nods. “We get it.”

“Really?”

Luke smiles. “Yeah. Go get your boy.”

“Thank you,” Alex says.

He smiles at the two of them, and allows himself to look at them for a few more seconds. They smile back at him. 

“Okay,” Alex whispers to himself, and then he poofs away.

***

Reggie and Luke collapse onto the floor basically the moment they arrive in the garage. They try to move, but their whole bodies hurt, which shouldn’t even be possible, because they’re ghosts. It’s just another point on the list of things they don’t understand. So, they just stay there, kind of draped over each other.

***

Alex appears outside the museum Willie and he broke into a while ago. He doesn’t really know why, but this place is special for him. He really hopes he’ll find Willie here. 

It’s strange to go inside alone. Alex usually doesn’t break the rules, he only does that with Willie. The thing is, when they’re together it’s so much fun to do forbidden things. But now, without him, Alex doesn’t feel that rush of adrenaline.

He only gets a few steps inside the building before the next jolt hits him. Scrunching his eyes together and wrapping his hands around his torso, Alex lets out a pained gasp. It takes a while for him to be able to stand up straight again, and even then his breaths are still coming too fast. His hands tremble even a minute later, but Alex ignores it and continues on. He needs to find Willie before it’s too late.

***

After Alex and his two friends poof out of Caleb’s club, Willie runs. He hates Caleb for making him watch Alex being forced to play for him, and he hates himself for getting Alex into that situation in the first place. At the same time, he’s filled with relief knowing that Alex is playing the show he’s always wanted to play. That he’ll get to move on. Willie knows he won’t ever get to do that. He always acts like he doesn’t care, but he hates that Caleb has taken the choice away from him.

Willie runs out of the club and poofs away. He doesn’t care that Caleb will be angry. He’ll be anyways. Willie’s just cost him the best three musicians he could have gotten, after all. There’s no coming back from this, but he’s known that the moment he told the boys about there being another option to Caleb’s club. In that moment, he made the decision that Alex was more important. When he told him he’d do anything for him, Willie meant it. Caleb will come after him at one point, and chances are it won’t end well for him. Willie’s surprisingly okay with that. If he has to stop existing for Alex to be free, it’ll be worth it.

For some reason, he finds himself in the closed museum. Some of his favourite memories with Alex were made here. God, it was so much fun just screaming at each other for ages. He’d give everything to relive that moment.

By now, Alex will have crossed over. Willie’s happy for him, he is. Still, tears run down his face when the realisation hits. He’ll never see Alex again. More than ever before, he wants to be able to cross over too, just so he can have even a minute more with him.

All the feelings hit him at once, and he screams in frustration. It echoes off the walls, just like it did when Alex and he were screaming at each other for fun. It’s not funny now. So, Willie screams again, and cries. He grieves the lost chances for a relationship with Alex, and he grieves his lost freedom. He kicks his skateboard away and pulls his knees to his chest. Right now, he can’t remember how he managed to be so happy for all of those years before he met Alex.

***

Alex walks into the big, open space, and the first thing he notices is Willie’s skateboard. It’s flipped on its back, discarded as if it isn’t loved anymore. He frowns. Willie loves that board. He always makes sure to put it somewhere it can’t get damaged. It isn’t like him to just leave it like this.

Looking around the room, Alex’s eyes finally land on Willie. He’s sitting on the ground with his back against a wall, and he’s buried his face in his knees. Even from where he’s standing, Alex can see Willie’s body shaking with sobs. His heart clenches at the sight.

Slowly, he makes his way over to him, making sure he’s making some noise. He doesn’t want to startle Willie. For a second, Alex wonders if he’s not loud enough, seeing as Willie isn’t reacting. But then, he sniffles and pulls his knees even closer too his chest.

“Go away,” he shouts. “I’m not coming back to the club! Do whatever you want with me, I don’t—” A sob wrecks through his body. “—I don’t care anymore.”

Alex’s whole being fills with sadness. “Willie,” he whispers.

He crosses the final few metres of distance and sits down on the floor next to Willie. Gently, he takes one of Willie’s hands in his and squeezes it. Within a split second, Willie freezes. Then, he slowly raises his head, blinking away the tears. His eyes widen when he recognises that he’s not Caleb.

“Alex,” he whispers, voice breaking.

Alex nods, smiling at him. “Yeah,” he says. “I’m here.”

For a moment, Willie looks happy, but then his eyes fill with horror. “How are you here?” he asks, pulling his hand away. “You’re supposed to cross over. You’re supposed to play the Orpheum. Why are you here?”

“We did. We played the Orpheum,” Alex says, looking down. “Turns out it wasn’t our unfinished business.”

“No.” Willie shakes his head. “No, that—that can’t be true. You…you have to cross over.”

Reaching for Willie’s hand again, Alex looks up and shakes his head. “It’s too late,” he says, and as if right on time another jolt hits him.

He slumps forward, face screwed up in pain. There’s a gasp from Willie, but then he pulls Alex towards him and into a hug. Alex grips him tightly, as if he’ll never be able to hold him again. Which is probably not too far off of the truth. When the pain lessens, Alex lets out a small sob. Willie holds him tighter.

“You’ve got to do something,” he says. “Anything. Join Caleb’s club. Anything’s better than this.”

Alex looks up at him and wipes the tears out of his eyes. “No,” he says. “I can’t go back there. This is it. I’m sorry I didn’t just let you believe I passed on.”

“What?” Willie stares at him. “No! Don’t be sorry for that. I’m happy that I get to see you, even if it’s for the last time.”

“Thanks,” Alex mumbles, a smile making its way onto his lips.

They just look at each other for a while, content. Alex wishes this moment could last forever. It doesn’t.

“So,” Willie says. “Not that I don’t like you being here, but why aren’t you with your friends right now?”

“I wanted to be with you,” Alex says, surprising himself when he doesn’t feel anxious at all. “I couldn’t go without talking to you. There’s…There’s something I need to tell you, before it’s too late.”

Willie smiles sadly. “Go on, then.”

Alex nods. “Okay,” he says. “Well, I know this might not be the best moment for this, but I need you to know. I—” He sighs, closes his eyes for a moment and takes a deep breath. “I really like you. Like, a lot. And I think I’m falling in love with you.”

He looks into Willie’s eyes. The other boy is frozen, staring at Alex, mouth hanging open. But in his eyes, there’s something. Alex can’t quite make it out. Happiness?

It takes a few seconds, but Willie snaps out of it. “You are?”

There’s wonder in his voice. Alex can’t help but grin. He nods. 

“Yep.”

Willie starts smiling too. “I think I’m falling for you, too,” he says.

Now it’s on Alex to stare. This is going much better than he thought it would. He starts laughing, and Willie joins him. They just sit there for a minute or two, laughing. To anyone else, they would look crazy but they love it.

When they eventually stop, Alex’s eyes land on Willie’s face. Or, more specifically, his lips. He looks back and forth between his lips and eyes. Alex gulps, settling on Willie’s eyes.

“Can I…” he says, trailing off.

He doesn’t even need to finish. Willie’s nodding before he’s even fully spoken those two words. And then, they’re leaning in, and Willie loops his arms around Alex’s waist, and Alex’s fingers trail up into Willie’s hair. Before they know it, they’re kissing. It’s even better than Alex imagined. They fit together, lips moving in sync. Alex doesn’t think he’s ever felt like this with anyone. 

They would have continued forever, but even ghosts need air. (Or at least, they feel as if they do) There are giant smiles on their lips. Alex slowly opens his eyes, and that’s when he notices the glow.

He frowns. “What—”

He’s interrupted by a hiss from Willie. A moment later, his wrist starts burning. Both of them shove their sleeves up. They watch in wonder as their stamps lift off their skin and turn into glitter. When they look back at each other, Willie’s smile is brighter than the sun.

“We’re free,” he whispers.

Alex laughs. They’re free. They really are free. This is—this is the best day ever.

“Do you think we could try that kiss thing again?” Alex asks.

Willie laughs at that. “Yes,” he says, and pulls Alex towards him.

***

They don’t know how much time has passed since they got here. The jolts are worse now, though. It must have been a while. They’re pretty sure it can’t be much longer until they’re gone. Julie’s probably home by now. Hopefully, she’s in her room, thinking they passed over.

That hope is crushed when she walks into the garage. She doesn’t see them, and Luke really hopes it stays that way. Then she starts talking.

“I…I know I already said this but, uh…” She’s quiet for a second. “Thank you guys.”

And of course, that’s when Reggie ruins it. “You’re welcome,” he says.

Luke groans. “Dude!”

Julie stands still for a moment, then she runs over to the light switch and turns the light on. Luke blinks against the brightness, and Reggie coughs a little. Julie just stands there, shocked.

“Why…why are you here?” she asks. “I…I thought—”

She’s cut off by another jolt hitting them. Luke and Reggie groan in pain and curl into themselves. It hurts so bad.

Julie shakes her head. “No…no! I thought you crossed over. Why didn’t you cross over?”

She sounds panicked now. Reggie sits up, and so does Luke. Tears form in his eyes.

“I guess playing the Orpheum wasn’t our unfinished business,” Reggie says. “Point Caleb.”

“We wanted you to think that we crossed over, so we pretended to,” Luke says, trying to fight the tears. “We just…We had nowhere else to go.”

He’s definitely crying now. But so is Reggie, and he’s pretty sure Alex is too, having to say goodbye to the guy he’s falling for. 

“We thought you’d go straight to bed,” Reggie adds.

Julie’s crying to. She looks back and forth between the two of them. She frowns for a moment, looking a little to the left, as if something’s supposed to be there but isn’t.

“Where’s Alex?”

Oh. Right.

“He went to find Willie.” Luke blinks away more tears. “Couldn’t go without saying goodbye.”

Without warning, another jolt his them, and Luke hisses in pain. Shit, it can’t be much longer now. Julie’s even more panicked now. She runs towards them.

“You have to save yourselves right now. Go join Caleb’s club. Please,” she practically begs. “It’s better than not existing at all.”

Luke and Reggie slowly get to their feet.

“Please just go. Go! Poof out! Do something! Please. Do it for me. Please.”

Reggie shakes his head. “We’re not going back there.”

Luke’s breathing pretty heavily now, but he’s standing. He walks over to Julie, ignoring his whole body hurting.

“No music is worth making, Julie, if we’re not making it with you,” he says. “No regrets.”

They look at each other, both crying. And then Julie pulls him into a hug, and they actually touch.

Julie sniffles. “I love you guys.”

Luke smiles. It’s a little strange, but for some reason he feels better. And there’s light coming from somewhere. Julie has to have noticed it too, because she pulls away.

“How can I feel you?” she asks, and only then does Luke truly realise what’s happening.

“I…I…I don’t know,” he says, lifting his hands to Julie’s face and giggling a bit. “I feel stronger,” he adds, turning around to Reggie.

Julie’s eyes widen and she gestures at Reggie. “Reggie,” she says, a little excited. “Come here.”

He stands up with a gasp of pain and forces his feet to move until he’s next to Julie and Luke. They pull him into the hug immediately. The light grows even brighter, and Reggie, too, starts feeling better. They pull away from each other after a few seconds.

“Whoa,” Reggie says. “I…I…I don’t feel as weak anymore.”

They all let out a small laugh, but stop when Luke and Reggie let out a gasp. Their wrists are kind of burning and they pull away their sleeves. They can do nothing but stare in wonder as their stamps lift off their wrists and disintegrate in the air. All of them look up, watching them turn into glitter.

“What…,” Julie says. “What do you think that means?”

Luke can’t help but smile brightly. “I think the band’s back.”

They look at each other, giggling like school children. Then, they go back to hugging, so happy that they’re alright. 

The happiness only lasts a few seconds though, because they realise something’s missing. Julie pushes them back a little and steps back, horror clear on her face.

“Oh shit,” she says. “Alex.”

***

Alex practically drags Willie across the city and back to the garage. He would have just poofed there, but for some reason people can see them now. And disappearing in front of people is different than doing it front of just Julie. These people don’t know about them, and Alex wants to keep it that way if he can. So, they walk. Or, well, run. 

Willie doesn’t complain at all. He’s still got the biggest smile on his face and does his best to keep up with Alex. The fact that they’re holding hands helps with that. 

It takes them about half an hour to actually get to Julie’s house, and by that time, they’re both more than a little out of breath. They stop to recover for a minute, and then they walk to the garage. 

When Alex enters the garage, Willie’s hand still in his, he finds his friends walking in circles and panicking about something. Willie and he watch them for a few seconds, kind of confused. 

“Uh…guys?” Alex says, snapping them out of it.

He doesn’t get to say anything else because both he and Willie are pulled into a hug almost the moment Luke, Reggie, and Julie catch sight of them. Alex is a little confused about why this is happening all of a sudden, and why he can touch Julie, but it’s also kind of nice to hug them. He melts into the hug after a few moments, and so does Willie. The smiles are back on their lips. 

A few seconds later, Luke pulls out of the hug and frowns at them. “Why is your stamp not going away?”

“What?”

“Your stamp,” Julie says. “It’s supposed to go away, why isn’t it going away?”

All three of them start panicking again while Alex and Willie watch, confused at their actions. They look at each other, sharing a look. How have those three idiots not noticed that he’s not suffering from the jolts anymore? Don’t get him wrong, Alex loves his pseudo-family. But sometimes they’re stupid. He sighs.

“Guys,” Alex says, but this time, he’s ignored.

“Maybe it’s because he wasn’t here when ours went away?” Reggie says, running his hands through his hair.

Luke shakes his head. “No, I—I can’t believe it’s a one time thing. It can’t be.”

“Let’s just try again,” Julie suggests, panic clear in her voice. “Maybe it’ll work this time.”

They turn to him and Alex buries his head in his hands. “My friends are idiots,” he says.

Willie rubs his back, grinning. “Eh, I’m sure they’re fine most of the time.”

“Alex?” Luke asks, sounding unsure.

Lifting his head up and looking at his friends, Alex shakes his head. “Guys, the stamp’s been gone for half an hour,” he says and, looking at Willie, adds, “Both of ours have been.”

“What?” Julie whispers, staring at him.

Reggie isn’t doing much better, he’s staring too. “Really?”

Alex laughs. “Yeah, really.”

To back up his words, Willie nods and both of them pull up their sleeves. Immediately, Luke, Reggie, and Julie crowd around them. There’s nothing to see though. Where the stamps were is only blank skin now.

Luke snaps out of it first and pulls Alex into another hug. Within a few seconds, they’re all in a giant group hug again. Alex laughs. They’re all free now. This is so much better than crossing over could ever be, he’s sure of it. Willie’s hand slips into his again and his smile grows even brighter. There’s no place Alex would rather be right now.

**Author's Note:**

> Support me on ko-fi : https://ko-fi.com/immortal_dreams


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